768 



DISCHARGE OF FCBTUS AND PLACENTA. 



Fig. 279. 



walls of the uterus, at the time of delivery, are composed of such mus- 

 cular fibres, arranged in circular, oblique, and longitudinal bundles. 



About the end of the first week after delivery, these fibres begin to 

 undergo a fatty degeneration. (Fig. 278.) Their granules become larger 

 and more prominent, and soon assume the appearance of fat granules, 

 deposited in the substance of the fibre. The deposit, thus commenced, 



increases in abundance, and 

 the granules continue to en- 

 large until they become con- 

 verted into fully formed fat 

 globules, which fill the interior 

 of the fibre more or less com- 

 pletely, and mask, to a certain 

 extent, its anatomical charac- 

 ters. (Fig. 279.) The fatty 

 degeneration, thus induced, 

 gives to the uterus a softer 

 consistency, and a pale yellow- 

 ish color which is characteristic 

 of this period. The altered 

 muscular fibres are afterward 

 absorbed, and gradually give 

 place to others of new forma- 

 tion, which already begin to 

 show themselves before the 

 old ones have disappeared. 



The process finally results in a complete renovation of the muscular 

 substance of the uterus. The organ becomes again reduced in size, com- 

 pact in tissue, and of a pale ruddy hue, as in the unimpregnated con- 

 dition. The entire renewal or reconstruction of the uterus is completed, 

 according to Heschl, about the end of the second month after delivery 



MUSCULAR FIBRES OF HUMAN UTERUS^ 

 three weeks after parturition; from a woman dead 

 of peritonitis. 



